Don't forget to take your pills, daddy
by Snowdead123
Summary: Rattmann reminisces about the past while he lays dying. I wrote this, like, a year ago, but I decided to upload it anyway. I has an old headcannon that Rattmann is Chell's dad, but in light of new info that I've found, I've altered the headcanon, so this isn't accurate now, but why waste a decent fanfic, right? No pairings, rated T to be safe.


"Don't forget to take your pills, daddy!"

It's been so long since I've heard that. I've almost forgotten what it sounded like. But, I guess your favorite and most precious memories come back to you when you die. I can feel it. It's coming to an end soon, and, maybe, so will come the end to her confinement in this terrible place. The words repeat in my mind.

"Don't forget to take your pills, daddy!" She shouts from across the house. I hear her and nod to myself. "Right," I think to myself, "My pills." I grab the bottle from my desk and twist off the top. Only 7 left. I'll need a refill soon. Setting that thought aside, I dump two pills into my palm, take a swig of my water from the cup on the desk, and toss the pills into my mouth. They taste bitter and the water doesn't help. I cringe. I absolutely hate taking the pills, but I do it for my job, so I can continue to work at Aperture.

"You ready yet, daddy?"

And for her.

I turn toward the high pitched voice, and see my daughter in the doorway of my office. She is smiling, like always. Her expression fills me with warmth. It always has, always will. I smile back, despite my bad feeling about today. Something about the event's to occur later today filled me with fear and paranoia. Or maybe that because I only took my pills two seconds ago.

"Almost, Chell. I just have to get my work I.D., than we can go." I informed her. She sighed loudly and sat dramatically on the floor. She pouted slightly and sighed loudly again, and I realized this was her attempted at making me hurry up. I chuckled slightly at her antics. Pulling open the desk drawer, I find my I.D. amongst old papers. Under my I.D. is a paper regarding Aperture's newest and most important invention. An A.I., named GLaDOS, or Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System. Something clicked into place in my brain.

"Oh, yeah." I remember. "Today's the day. They're gonna show Her off to the world." That spikes my already high anxiety. "But She's not ready. They're making a huge mistake." I think before I'm pulled out my thoughts by a tugging on my sleeve. I look down to see Chell, pouting again.

"Come on! We're gonna be late! I wanna see the other scientists and the big robot lady!" she says enthusiastically. I mentally kick myself for telling her about GLaDOS. Nobody outside of the lab is supposed to know about her. I pray to god she didn't tell anyone at her school and closed my desk drawer, finally. Slipping the I.D. around my neck, and grab her hand and lead her to the door. She isn't pouting anymore, which is good. I hate it when she pouts. It makes her look less like an innocent little girl and more like one of those girls in her class who pick on her. Plus, her smiling is a sign that I haven't completely failed as a parent.

We walked out the door and to the car.

The drive isn't long, and it certainly isn't quiet. Chell talks excitedly about how she really wants to see GLaDOS, and that kind of worries me. She also mentions a personality core named Wheatley, and I remind myself to stop letting her see my notes. Allowing her to occasionally come to work with me is one thing, but actually explaining to her what all the stuff does is a totally different matter. I just can't help it, though. She had a natural thirst for knowledge, and I want to give her as much knowledge as she can fit in her little 7 year old brain.

The car pulls in to the building and my sense of paranoia rises. Something just doesn't feel right, which means something might actually be wrong considering the fact that I took my pills over 20 minutes ago. Any of my natural paranoia shouldn't vanish, but it's still here. That does wonders for my brimming migraine. With the car parked, I open my door and walk around the car to open her door for her, but she managed to do it herself this time. It may be a small success for her, but I'm proud anyway. She's definitely proud of herself, judging by her self confident smile. I smiled back at her, and closed the door behind her. Walking around to the trunk, she followed talking about her potato battery and how it's better than everyone else's and that she was going to win. I'm not sure where she got the idea that the "Bring Your Daughter to Work" day science presentation thing was a contest, but I wasn't going to burst her bubble. I was going to have remind myself to get her something for doing her project despite the fact that she wanted to make something else. We pulled said project out the trunk. I closed it and we walked toward the big and slightly intimidating building, and my sense of foreboding grew. I silently prayed that today wasn't going to be like "Bring Your Cat to Work" day. I still haven't really had the time to explain to Chell what happened to our cat, Schrodinger.

The inside of the building was surprisingly frigid. You'd think a place full of electronics and heaters in almost every room would be warmer. Unfortunately, my lab coat wasn't much insulated, so I was freezing. Chell, on the other hand, was wearing about 3 sweaters, so she was good. We were directed to the room where everyone was setting up their projects. She picked a spot for her project, which was on the end of row near corner. I handed her each piece of the battery so she could set in up. As she did so, I read what she wrote on her poster board. Laughed inwardly at the explanation she wrote. Sassy and kind of know-it-all. Very her. When she was finished placing everything on the table, she turned to me.

"Hey, daddy, can we go see the big robot lady now?" she asked me. I frowned a bit. GLaDOS wasn't going to be turned on for another 10 minutes, I still felt like something was wrong. I needed to talk to the other scientist about it. I crouched down to face her.

"Not yet, okay? Soon, though." I said, reluctantly. She sighed exasperatedly, but nodded anyway. Realizing she needed something to do, I smiled. "Hey, don't be upset. You can go talk to the other kids while you wait. I have to go talk to some people." She smiled at this.

"Okay!" she exclaimed and ran off toward the other kids. I stood and watched her go. I sighed. My paranoia was getting worse. I couldn't shake the feeling that something really terrible was going to happen later. And it had something to do with GLaDOS.

I made my way over to the group of my co-workers in the corner near GLaDOS. She was asleep. For now, at least.

"Hey Doug! You ready for the grand unveiling?" one of the scientists, Jim, asked me. I shrugged and made a vague gesture that could've been a nod or a shake of the head. He laughed.

"What are you nervous about? You forget to take your crazy pills or something?" he asked jokingly. I winced at the term 'crazy pills'. He noticed and apologized half-heartedly. I tried to continue the conversation.

"Do you really think She's ready? Do you think the cores are going to make a difference?" I asked, my anxiousness showing more than ever. Jim chuckled at my dismay.

"I think everything is going to be fine, and you're just nervous as usual." He replied. I nodded unconsciously, and searched the crowd of children for Chell. I saw her next to a group of other kids, and she seemed to be having a good time. I turned back to Jim.

"I sure hope everything with be fine, what with all the people here. Especially all these kids." I said quietly. Jim nods. He also sees Chell out in the crowd.

"That you daughter over there?" he asked, pointing toward her general direction. I nod my head. He makes a noise of recognition. "Chell, right?" he questions, even though I know he doesn't really care that much. He's only asking to keep the conversation going. I nod again. "Hm. Interesting kid." He says before turning back to me. The timer on my watched chimes.

Time to turn Her on.

One of the other scientists comes over a loud speaker.

"Aperture welcomes you to the first 'Bring Your Daughter to Work' day! Get ready for the grand event of the day! The unveiling of our greatest invention, GLaDOS, or Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System!" the voice announces. Jim and I go to opposite sides of a big machine. He pressed a few colorful buttons and then makes eye contact with me through a window in the machine. I nod and he puts his hand around a big lever, as do I. We push down at the same time and a loud whining sound comes from the machine. GLaDOS begins to make noise and light up. I look at Her, and I see Chell standing a few feet away from Her. Suddenly, the paranoid feeling turns to fear and I quickly jump away from the machine.

"Rattmann! Where are you going!?" yells Jim, but I ignore him. I need to get Chell away from that monstrous A.I.

I was close to her. Close enough for her to hear me.

"Chell!" I yelled out. She turned her head to look at me. She smiles and waves at me. GLaDOS begins talking.

"Hello, and welcome to 'Bring you Daughter to Work' day. We hope you have a good time. I would like to perform an experiment with everyone here. All I ask that you do, is stay still and do not try to leave." Her monotonous voice is loud, and not even slightly threatening, but I don't trust Her. I will never trust her.

Chell sees my panicked expression and frowns. I'm almost to her, just a few more feet. There are so many people in the way, but I have to get to her. Another loud voice comes out of the speakers, but this time it's not GLaDOS.

"Neurotoxin online. Neurotoxin levels at 10%. Initiating emergency lockdown."

The other scientists start running around frantically, trying to cancel her actions, but they can't be undone. I have to get to Chell. I have to get her out before it's too late.

Children are screaming and pushing each other around, trying to reach the exits. I see a few of them escape, but the doors are halfway closed at this point. I finally reach Chell.

"Daddy! What's going on? Why is everyone screaming? What's neurotoxin?" she asks me, and I can tell she's scared. I don't answer her. I only grab her in my arms and run toward the almost closed exit.

"Neurotoxin levels at 30%" the voice drones on. I see a few people begin to drop to the floor. They have expressions of pure horror and terror in their eyes. I'd feel bad for them, but I don't have the time to spare. I have to get Chell out of here.

The doors had only a small space for exit by the time I get there. Small enough for a child, small enough for Chell. I put her down on the floor.

"Go under the door." I tell her. She tries to protest, but I cut her off. "Go, NOW!" I yell at her. She looks up at me with tears in her eyes. She shakes her head 'no'. She isn't going to do it, so I have to try to push her under. She screams at me.

"Chell, please. You need to get out of here." I start, firmly, but my tough exterior fades away as she resists. The space in the door is too small now for either of us, and the air in the room is starting to turn a greenish color. She's still crying, and I can feel myself begin to get teary-eyed, too. We can't get out here. There's no way out.

I grab onto her and lift her into my arms. I start running to a back door. My mind wasn't really in the right place to be making extreme moves at the moment, but this was definitely the right place to go. I had to, there was no other way.

Grabbing the door handle, I practically rip the door off its hinges. I put her down and shut the door. From behind it, I hear a monotonous voice.

"Neurotoxin levels at 50%. Neurotoxin now reaching lethal levels."

Chell begins to cough, and the air is greener than it was before. I crouch down to her level.

"Chell, take off one of your sweaters." She does so without protest, and she hands it to me. I wrap in around her mouth and nose area, and I pick her up again. I don't have time to cover my own face before I take off again. Her coughing is less often now, but she also starts to doze off, which is a REALLY bad sign.

"Almost," cough, "there, Chell." Cough-cough, "Just hold on. Please." I say weakly. I hear a quiet response from her, but I can just make it out.

"Okay, daddy. Okay."

I continue to run until I reach another door. Here, I put her down again, but she is too weak to stand. She falls over almost instantly, but I don't have the time to catch her. I push open the door, and practically drag her inside. Shutting the door, I can finally see without having to look through the green fog. The air in this room is clean. It has a different air source than the rest of the building, and for good reason. This was the cryogenic chamber room.

"Chell, sweetie, can you hear me? You can take off the mask now." I say quietly to her. I can tell that she can barely hear me, but she does what she was told. She's so weak by now, that it's hard for her to move her arms.

"Can I breathe here?" she asks me, just above a whisper.

"Yes, you can breathe here." I say. Watching her gulp in as much air as she could, I realized the situation we were in. Neurotoxins have flooded the entire facility, and we're trapped in the cryogenics room. I knew how this was going to end, but I had hopes that maybe, just maybe, it could have been avoided, somehow. But, I knew what had to be done.

"Sweetie, I'm going to put you somewhere safe, okay? I'm only doing this so you can live, not because I want to hurt you." I whispered to her, only now noticing the tears leaking from my eyes. She looked up at me, her own eyes, filling with tears, and she did something I wouldn't have expected at this point. She smiled.

"I know you wouldn't want to hurt me. Whatever you're gonna do is alright with me, as long as I'm with you."

I choke back more tears, and I nod. I lifted her up off the floor and walked over to one of the cryogenic chambers.

There's a keypad next to it, which I punch a few buttons of. The door to the cryogenic chamber opens, and I gently place Chell inside. She looks at me, still smiling. I try to smile back, but I can't. I can't smile knowing what I'm about to do to her.

"I love you, Chell." I say. The tears are pouring down both of our faces now. She still smiles, though. The same smile that, only about an hour ago, made me feel warm inside. Her innocence is gone now, and her smile only fills me with sadness. Not sadness for me, but sadness for what will happen to her once I close the door I'm holding.

"I love you too, daddy." She says. She closes her eyes, for what might be the final time, but she doesn't know that. There's no guarantee that she'll even remember what happened here. Or remember me. I sob.

The door closes on her, and I see her smile fade away. She's asleep now. Asleep until the box is opened. I press a few buttons on the keypad. Until the box is opened.

The cryogenic chamber next to the one Chell is in will soon be occupied by me, but not indefinitely. I have a timer set on mine. I'll be awoken when the neurotoxin is cleared up. Then I'll figure out how to stop that monster of an A.I.

I look back at Chell while in my own chamber. I start to mutter things to myself, but the only thing I recognize from my own mouth is one sentence.

"I love you Chell." I say this and I drift off.

"Chell…" I mutter to myself, now in the present. I am lying on the floor, blood pouring from a bullet wound in my leg. A whole day's worth of memory had just come back to me, but I was still on the floor, waiting for death.

…

…

…

What the hell was I thinking?! I can't die now. I have to help Chell! I crawl, with the companion cube along with me, to the relaxation chambers, where Chell is. It's in the back of my mind what I'm going to have to do. Same as last time, I suppose. I see her in the bed, tired and beaten down. But she's still the same resilient, sassy little girl I remember. I press the buttons on the control panel in front of me, similar to what I did last time. The light in the room comes on, and Chell seems more alive now, somehow.

The life support is on.

Asleep until the box is opened.

Until the box is opened.


End file.
